For a long time, many psychologists believed that you could tell if someone was lying just by the direction of their eye movements. But recent studies have cast doubt on this theory. While our eyes can reveal a lot about what we’re thinking or feeling, the idea that eye movement can definitively determine truthfulness seems to be a myth.
Police Interviews
In the past, police interviews often relied on the idea that if a suspect or witness looked in a certain direction during questioning, they were likely lying. The belief was that a person’s eye would move to the left or right, depending on their dominant hand, when imagining something versus recalling an actual memory.
Extensive Research on Truth and Eye Movement
Recent research led by Professor Richard Wiseman at Hertfordshire University and Dr. Caroline Watt at the University of Edinburgh has debunked this belief. They conducted thorough video tests with volunteers, who were asked to tell both true and false stories. Another group reviewed these videos to see if they could spot lies based on eye movements.
The results showed no link between eye movement and lying. Instead, other cues like how people interact, their level of stillness, their use of first-person pronouns, touching their faces, or long pauses and hesitation were more revealing of deception.
To further confirm their findings, the researchers analyzed police press conferences where supposed crime victims were seeking help. Some of these individuals were later found to be lying. Yet again, there was no connection between their eye movements and the truth.
Implications for Various Industries
These findings have significant implications, particularly for fields that depend on eye movement analysis, such as the police or those studying neuro-linguistic programming. This research suggests that rather than focusing on eye movements, we should look at a wider range of behavior to understand if someone is being truthful.